This invention is generally directed to coating and treatment processes, and more specifically to the coating and surface hardening treatment of various components in an electrophotographic imaging or printing apparatus. More specifically, the present invention is directed to the coating and surface hardening treatment, that is for example casing the surface by nitriding or carbiding, of paper guides, registration edge components, and the like in electrophotographic imaging or printing apparatus, which coatings or treatments render these components abrasion resistant. In one embodiment of the present invention, the coating selected is comprised of diamond-like carbon. In another embodiment of the present invention, the reprographic component such as the paper guidance device is coated with titanium nitride, titanium carbide or a similar hard coating. Also, in another embodiment of the present invention the reprographic component such as the paper guidance device can be treated by standard metallurgical techniques such as carbiding or nitriding to acquire a hard surface layer.
Many of the components in electrophotographic imaging and printing apparatuses are subject to wear, especially after extended usage. For example, in xerographic imaging and printing systems, paper guides and registration edge components in document handlers, on the platen table, and the like are subject to undesirable abrasion since, for example, the paper used for the generation of images contains abrasive materials, such as aluminum oxides, which cause undesirable grooves in the paper guidance components. To enable paper to travel reliably from an input to an output tray in a reprographic machine, including xerographic imaging and printing apparatuses, guides are needed and these guides are in physical contact with abrasive papers whereby a groove is formed in the guide which can result in paper retention and jamming of the machine. The aforementioned problems and others are avoided or minimized with the processes and products of the present invention.